Inspired by her son's own battle with food allergies and intolerances, West Hartford resident Colleen Brunetti is working to get a children's book about the subject published.

Brunetti, a health coach and author, went through a trying time with her son, Aidan, when he was five years old. He was continuously sick and there wasn't a good explanation for it.

"He would get a fever in a cycle," Brunetti said. "He was sick all the time. It just didn't make sense to me because I was becoming a certified health coach. We had excellent nutrition in our house. With the way he was responding, it was something more. He was drinking green smoothies, he shouldn't have been sick all the time."

It was discovered that Aidan, who is now 10 years old, actually had a food intolerance. He no longer eats dairy or gluten products, and he's as healthy as he should be.

Her book, titled Aidan the Wonder Kid Who Could Not Be Stopped, is intended as a way for children with food allergies to feel good about themselves and not different just because they can't eat that slice of pizza or piece of cake at their friend's birthday party.

"I hope it really speaks to kids with food allergies and helps their peers understand them in a fun, lighthearted way," Brunetti said.

It's also a tool for parents as they try to explain to their young children why they can't have that food all of their friends are having.

The story itself, Brunetti said, was born out of bedtime stories she would make up for her son.

"I wrote it a couple of years ago for fun," Brunetti said. "It was really hard for him to go through. Kids don't like feeling different. The more I learned about the more intensive food allergy world, kids really need to feel like they aren't different."

After Brunetti wrote the story, it was placed to the side. It wasn't until she participated in the Bridge Family Center's parent leadership training program that she decided it could be turned into a community project. Each parent who graduates from that program is required to come up with a community project.

"I had this manuscript sitting there and we were going around the table and two other women were considering doing food allergy related projects for their teenagers," Brunetti said. "I've got this sitting here, what if we can get to these kids in early childhood and start building confidence so when they reach their teenage years, they know what their bodies need."

Though the story is done, there are costs associated with illustrations, which are being done by Newington resident Dan Carsten, and with self-publishing. Brunetti is running a fundraiser on Indiegogo to help offset those costs.

The community portion of Brunetti's project will come once the book is published. She plans on donating copies to local West Hartford schools and doing author readings at different places in town to help further educate about food allergies and intolerances.